Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Director of Transportation and Highways

The Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) received a report and Presentation of the Director of Transportation and Highways that provided the Board with an update on the Coventry Local Air Quality Action Plan.

The City Council is under Ministerial Direction, issued in February 2020 and entitled Environment Act 1995 (Coventry City Council) Air Quality Direction 2020, to implement the local plan for NO2 compliance. 

A Full Business Case for the local plan is to be submitted to the Secretary of State by 31st October 2020 as draft, subject to the Cabinet’s approval in December 2020, to enable JAQU to instigate their internal review processes ahead of submission of the final Full Business Case.

Schedule 1 of the Direction set out the detailed package of measures that the Minister was instructing the City Council to implement and reflected the Council’s preference not to proceed with a Clean Air Zone. The package of measures included a segregated cycle route between the city centre and Coundon, engagement measures with schools, businesses and local communities aimed at encouraging active and sustainable travel, and a series of highway schemes aimed at reducing congestion and facilitating dynamic traffic management on the routes into the city centre from the west. This included Holyhead Road, where NO2 levels were at their highest.

The Government had provided £24.5 million in grant funding for the implementation of this package, in addition, the Council had secured a further £5.8 million in grant funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Transforming Cities Fund for the B4101 Spon End scheme, which formed one of the highway schemes within the package. 

Engagement work undertaken on the A4600 corridor in 2018-20 had resulted in increased active travel and mode shift. In schools, car journeys for school travel reduced by 8.5%, transferred to walking, cycling and scooter. Local residents reduced single occupancy car trips by 11%, with an increase in walking and bus trips of 9%. 

Other projects that complemented this package included the installation of one of the most extensive networks of electric vehicle charging points in the country, with around 250 charging points installed to date and funding being secured for a further 100. The Council had also worked with National Express and Transport for West Midlands to secure funding for ten electric buses, which began operation in August 2020. The project includes the installation of solar panels and battery storage at the bus depot to enable the power used to run the buses to be generated on site. Further, the Council has secured funding from Highways England for the E-Fleet project, and was in the process of procuring 70 electric vehicles, mostly vans, that would operate as part of the Council’s fleet, but would also be available for local businesses to borrow and trial on a “try before you buy” basis.

The main Local Air Quality Action Plan was approved by Cabinet on 21st July 2020, following which officers have been working on the delivery programme of the package with significant progress made summarised as follows:

·  The Coundon Cycle Route had been to consultation, and on 7th September 2020 Cabinet Member for City Services approved the scheme. Preparatory works were underway, and a substantive start on scheme construction was programmed for November 2020 with the first phase of the scheme to be open in mid-2021.

·  The impact of COVID-19 upon the operation of schools and businesses had meant that the original plan of starting the engagement programme in September 2020 had been delayed. The engagement programme would fully commence in early 2021 and run to March 2024, beyond compliance, to ensure behaviours were embedded for the longer term.

·  Balfour Beatty had been appointed as the programme manager for highway schemes works and design work had commenced. Once detailed designs were prepared, there would be consultation with local communities which would provide an opportunity for a review of the proposals and any amendments to the package of measures to be made.  Substantive changes to the package would require to be submitted to Government as a variation to the package that the Council has been directed to deliver, and any such submission would need to have a robust evidence base demonstrating that the amended local plan would still achieve compliance with NO2 legal limits within the shortest possible time.

·  The target date for delivery of the measures outlined in the local plan was March 2024, although the infrastructure measures were planned for construction in advance of that date with the Coundon Cycle Route being completed in mid-2021 and the remaining highway measures by late 2021 or early 2022. The timetable was dependent upon the successful completion of a range of statutory processes including land acquisition and Traffic Regulation Orders, as well as on the outcome of the consultation in early 2021.

In summary, the City Council was making good progress with the delivery of the package of measures contained in the local plan, in line with the Ministerial Direction. There were significant risks to the programme for delivery, and there may be a need to request approval from Government for changes to the package as the design and consultation progresses on individual schemes.  The submission of the Full Business Case did, however, represent a significant milestone in the delivery of the Local Air Quality Action Plan.

The Board questioned officers, received responses, and discussed the following issues:

·  Members welcomed any modal shift to different ways of taking journeys other than motor vehicles

·  Heavy goods vehicles using the North side of the City were encouraged to use appropriate routes and not minor/residential roads. Work continued with businesses, including SAT NAV companies, to direct drivers appropriately. Cross boundary work with other Local Authorities and participation in cross boundary consultations was undertaken. This work and monitoring was on-going.

·  Engagement work would be undertaken with businesses and schools to obtain information about employee and pupil travel choices and to look at options for modal shift. Work would include looking at Businesses company vehicles and pool cars etc for environmentally friendly options.

·  Engagement work with communities would include encouraging the use of cycle routes and walking, to improve air quality and promote health.

·  Formal monitoring of air quality was taken through Air Quality Monitoring Stations in the City that automatically monitored levels. Additional monitoring was in place in other areas such as Ball Hill. A network of infusion tubes were also monitored regularly.

·  Petrol and Diesel vehicles were to be phased out with manufacturers working on alternatives.

·  The Local Air Quality Action Plan Full Business Case would be submitted to Cabinet on 1^st December 2020. Work on junction 7 of the Ring Road, Upper Hill Street, Holyhead Road and Spon End would begin with the consultation in early 2021, with construction commencing later in 2021.

·  National Express monitored the performance and operational parameters of their electric buses – buses were charged overnight to provide power for buses to operate without the need for recharging during their shift.

·  The design process for improvements to air quality on the Foleshill Road would include anything that would include the flow of traffic. Important not to divert traffic to create other flow/air quality issues.

·  Cycle routes would be considered anywhere across the City.

The Cabinet Member for Jobs and Regeneration indicated that the Board that work on air quality and traffic flow initiatives across the City were progressing well. The Air Quality Action Plan had met the Government Direction and avoided a clear air zone being imposed. There was a great deal of work being undertaken to fit with major green economy proposals across the City with a joined-up approach to many schemes and projects.

Members requested that a report be submitted to a future meeting of the Board relating to the work undertaken with schools to gather information about their travel preferences and proposals to encourage modal shift. They also requested that they be provided with the web link to future Cabinet reports as they were published.

A Briefing Note on the Board’s consideration of the presentation would be prepared for consideration by Cabinet when they received the Local Air Quality Action Plan Full Business Case Report in December 2020.

RESOLVED that the Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) notes the presentation and briefing note and made no further recommendations to Cabinet Members.